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The Debacle is Anything But

When I was an undergraduate student at Dalhousie University, Zuppa Circus Theatre, now known most often just as Zuppa Theatre, was the very beating heart of Halifax’s optimistically emerging independent theatre scene. Zuppa shows were ones that threatened to tear down all preconceptions we had of what theatre “could” or “should” be and encouraged an entire generation of Haligonian theatre artists to delve deeper into their imaginations and mine the “whole animal” of their bodies in the pursuit of unique, dynamic, evocative stories. Now, with the independent theatre maturing all around it, Zuppa Theatre continues to push boundaries, to forge new artistic partnerships and to take its audience into new and exciting territory. The Company’s newest show, The Debacle, which plays at the Plutonium Playhouse until April 23rd, 2011, is a stunning example of how Zuppa is growing, like a hearty tree bearing bountiful and nourishing fruit.

The Debacle was created as an ensemble piece, but, unlike its predecessors, it is a tour de force one woman marvel performed only by Zuppa founding member Susan Leblanc-Crawford and co-created with director Ann-Marie Kerr. Leblanc-Crawford plays Margaret, a smart, scientific academic, for whom paralyzing grief has trapped her in the attic amid jars filled with memories and a heart full of guilt. There has been an accident. Margaret’s younger sister, Claire, lies in a hospital bed. The phone rings but Margaret cannot answer. Instead, we are brought into the world of before, as each jar has captured a bit of the past: frozen frogs, painted frogs, stolen penny candy from Fred’s Store, Royal Weddings, drunken teenaged joyrides, and secret dreams. The phone’s continual interruptions remind us of the harrowing impending present, but Margaret’s refusal to answer its call suggests that she has disjointed herself from reality; she is lost and cannot move with the fear of her unknown future.

Sue Leblanc-Crawford gives a beautiful performance as Margaret. She is mostly meticulously controlled in her telling of the tales, scientific facts merged with sisterly colloquialism. She is passionate about the observation of the jars and seamlessly floats between characterizing the sisters as precocious and delightfully scrappy children, boisterous teenagers and adults sobered and divided by pain without resorting to broad stereotypes. Leblanc-Crawford also makes great use of a quiet intensity which is hauntingly effective in expressing Margaret’s emotions and makes the moments when she suddenly snaps all the more poignant and gripping. There is a moment where Margaret breaks out into Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, which Leblanc-Crawford commits to with two hundred percent, singing direct from the soul. This is the apex of the play and the moment when it becomes vividly clear that Margaret has drifted into an alternate reality, but it is one, I think, that is familiar to anyone who has faced unbearable loss.

The most stunning and innovative aspect of this play is Ann-Marie Kerr’s powerful direction, which uses some of the most simple theatrical conventions to give a walloping punch in perfect synchronicity with Leblanc-Crawford’s performance. Margaret is clad only in a bathrobe, her hair wet, her hands submerging periodically into a bucket of ice, and the coldness is perceptible throughout the theatre. Leblanc-Crawford is literally situated in an alcove above the stage, she remains on her knees for most of the show, but the play seems anything but static. She is surrounded by glass jars, which the audience expects could come crashing down at any moment, which creates genuine tension throughout the tiny space, and Kerr magically releases it in a glorious moment by having the ice rain down onto the empty stage instead. The play ends with a gorgeous and heart rending image of birthday candles in a glass jar, proof that sometimes the most minimal effects can have the most tremendous effects.

This play hit me directly in the heart and stayed there, like a golf ball of emotion waiting to melt, for days afterward. Halifax is extremely fortunate to have Zuppa Theatre creating such world-class theatre in its midst and undoubtedly these theatre artists will continue to inspire the younger generations into the next decade and beyond.

The Debacle plays from now until April 23rd, 2011 at the Plutonium Playhouse in Halifax, Nova Scotia ( 2315 Hunter Street). For more information or to book your tickets please call 902.431.5202 or email info@zuppatheatre.com or visit this website.

I was fortunate to see The Debacle while their friends from Ranters Theatre (Melbourne, Australia) were visiting and developing their newest work, Song, and they performed a pre-show of songs from this new project currently in development with James Tyson from Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, England. It is amazing to see such gracious and fruitful international collaboration happening here in Halifax. The songs that we heard, still in their early stages, with accompaniment by Tyson of piano and guitar, were beautiful, deeply poetic, spare, heartfelt, and sung in three part harmony that mostly captured the spirit of the sea with a quiet, almost sheepish at times, wistfulness that inspired careful contemplation and deep submergence into the music by the audience. There will be other musical guests featured as a pre-show for all the remaining performances of The Debacle.

I also must give a shout out to Ben Stone, founding member of Zuppa Theatre, who in his welcoming speech for The Debacle not only urged his audience to vote in the upcoming election (a valiant message, we should all be encouraging as many people as we can) but also for helping to promote another independent theatre production in another theatre, whose run overlaps slightly with The Debacle, 2b Theatre’sWhen It Rains. It is so heartening to see the independent theatre working concurrently to support one another, to build not only their own audience, but a passionate audience eager to patronize independent theatre in Halifax in general. I truly believe that we will all benefit from helping one another, so thanks to Ben Stone for perpetuating the indie theatre buzz.